Fallowing The Past
by Fwgaltx
Summary: From Manga ch. 487. All of Fairy Tail gets brought back through time to Tenrou Island by Acnologia who knows he can't defeat the 5 dragon slayers who were raised by dragons. And he definitely knows he can't defeat Zeref or END. So he uses a lacrima to go to Tenrou then uses the Eclipse Gate to go through time to a place in the Dragon Slayers lives that they didn't have powers.
1. Prologue-The Surprise

Fairy Tail- Fallowing The Past- From Ch.487

Prologue- The Surprise

No one's POV

Magnolia was deserted. Everyone had gone, having run away from the fight that had been going on for weeks. The Fairy Tail guild wasn't deserted however. Fairies and spriggans were lined up on either side of the guild and you could feel, and see, the tension building. It was like a big black cloud hanging over us, coaxing us to take the first swing. Then, as if an imaginary gun went off, the guild exploded into another fight. Except this one was deadly. Erza was fighting Irene; Wendy and Lucy were fighting Kareem; the Strauss siblings were fighting Dimaria, and the rest of Fairy Tail was spread out around the guild, trying to hold back the other enemies.

Gray and Natsu had teamed up, trying to get at Zeref but he kept on dodging. "You've betrayed my expectations! I really thought you were capable of destroying me!" Zeref barked, going in for a punch to Natsu's chest.

Natsu cried out in pain. Gray went in next but Zeref dodged again. "But not to worry. It'll all go back to how it used to be. If I get Mavis' power, I can return to the 'Myself' of back then. Thanks to Neo- Eclipse." Zeref continues telling his plan as they all fought. "A gate that leads neither to the past, nor to the future. It starts everything over. It'll reset time itself." He looked straight at Natsu "We will be mortal again, all my mistakes washed away, no one will be hurt by me again. This time will no longer exist."

Natsu screamed and furiously threw punch after punch that were out of control and went nowhere. Then something happened. The book of E.N.D was knocked out of Zeref's pocket and slid over to Gray, who dove for it and grabbed it. Natsu and Zeref stood frozen, both for different but also the same reasons.

Zeref couldn't believe he was so stupid to not have hidden the book. But he felt like the book wouldn't be safe if it wasn't by his side. He desperately wanted the book to remain closed. No, he didn't, he wanted it opened and let E.N.D take over so Natsu could finally kill him. Wait, that wasn't right either, he couldn't remember whether he wanted the book open or closed anymore, he just knew it would be safer by his side.

Natsu was having a different reaction in these short seconds. He remembered what Zeref had told him. If anything happened to the book, his life would end. He knew he had to get the book from Gray but he couldn't move. He kind of wanted Gray to prove that Zeref was wrong and if anything happened to the book, he wouldn't be affected. He was praying for it actually.

He didn't want anything Zeref said to be true. He didn't want his life to be hanging in the balance of a book, he didn't want Zeref to be his brother, and he certainly didn't want his life force to be connected with Zeref's. He didn't want his whole world turned upside down. He didn't want to be a demon. He didn't want to think about any of it, so he didn't. For weeks and months, he didn't. Ever since the war with Tartaros, he knew something was up, something was brewing but he didn't think about it, not even all those nights alone when he went to train for a year. His thoughts were only of one person.

He stared as another second went by. Gray was slowly getting up with the book. _I am human, I am human._ He said this chant to himself repeatedly, as if it could change the situation he was in. Gray was now on his feet, turning into his demon slayer form.

Natsu's mind kept on swimming, but he still couldn't move. He closed his eyes and took a breath. He knew that it was time to let go of his worries and accept that all that Zeref said was the truth. He knew it was real, deep within him.

His life was hanging in the balance of a book. Zeref was his brother, albeit a mentally insane brother, but still, his brother. Even though Zeref wants to go back to when they were kids, which would cause this whole world to vanish, he still is Natsu's brother. And yes, sadly his life was in Zeref's hands to do as he saw fit. But that would change once he got the book back, _if_ he got the book back. His life was irrevocably turned upside down and inside out. Which was both good and bad, but this is his life. He can live it however he wants, even as a human.

He couldn't go back to a time before he found out about himself being a demon, much like Zeref couldn't go back to when they were kids. This is all inevitable. He would always die with his parents by that dragon and he would be turned into a demon by his grief-stricken brother. No matter what they do to try to change that, it was inevitable. And by Ankhseram he was going to live life to the fullest because of it! He was going to show this realization to Zeref too, even if it meant he had to beat it into his brother.

But if Zeref was right and his life depended on that book not being harmed or opened then he needed to get it and he needed to get it now!

Time sped back up for the two brothers, fighting right that minute to get the same thing, but for two different reasons. They lunged and tackled Gray, who was expecting magic or something from Zeref but not from Natsu. This caught Gray off guard and he punched Natsu in the nose while simultaneously kicking at Zeref's stomach. Gray raised his iced hand to the book but before he could cause any damage, someone yelled "No!" A bright light surrounded them.

That's when the second unexpected thing occurred. Unknowingly to everyone, Acnologia was planning something. While they were fighting, Acnologia crept up the stairs coming from the room the fairies kept all their most powerful and treasured objects in. He did not know of Zeref's plan, or that there was a power such as Lumen Histoire, which could accomplish what he wanted. He only knew of the power which was in his cloak.

He took a second to look around. He saw all the dragon slayers fighting. The second-generation dragon slayers would be easy to kill; he could kill them right now if he so pleased. The first and third generations would be a little harder for him, but he knew he could take them all down in time, time he did not have. He started to leave but a Spriggan saw him and attacked, which caused some fairies to attack as well.

' _Damn it.'_ He thinks to himself. Deciding to use it now, he produces a small, marble sized lacrama out of his pocket and throws it down. A puff of smoke engulfs the whole guild. The sound of bodies hitting the wood floor echoed throughout the hall. Acnologia sighed, he didn't want anyone coming along, especially his targets. That was the last thought he had before he hit the ground.

Rewritten: 5/21/17

A/N: Hello! Thanks for reading my first fanfic! I don't like these authors notes too much, so I don't think I'll be putting a lot in. I didn't really like how some of this story is going down so I am rewriting it for you guys! Thanks to Natthebat for helping me with being my beta reader! R&R Please! It's nice to hear your support and don't feel afraid to say if you don't like something criticism is wanted. Thanks again!


	2. Chapter 1-Tenrou Island

Chapter One- Tenrou Island

Natsu's POV

I bolt up off the ground, going in for the attack. "FIRE DRAGON IRON-" I look around, stunned. We are on Tenrou Island. _'What happened? We were just at the guild hall.'_ I look through the bushes and see Zeref lounging around under some trees. I start to step out, but a hand goes over my mouth. I tilt my head back to see Zeref looking through the bushes at himself, then at me, then back. I look through the bushes again, confused. The Other Zeref looks this way but decides it was nothing, goes back to sleep. I turn around and look at this Zeref, who has one finger over his mouth, to keep me quiet. He points in the opposite direction, toward a small clearing. I nod and follow my related enemy.

Once we are out of the Other Zeref's earshot, I start to whisper yell at this Zeref. "What in Mavis' name did you do?! Where are we? I mean when are we, because there is obviously another you over there!" I wave with both hands frantically toward the spot where the Other Zeref is sleeping, not believing what I'm seeing. "Are you even the Zeref I know from X792? Or are you the doppelganger? Plus, this isn't the guild, this is Tenrou Island! I haven't been here since the S class missions!" I huffed. "Where is everyone? And where is the Book? You better tell me or I'm going to beat the living shit out of yah!" I say angrily.

Zeref, who stared blankly at me this whole time while waiting for me to finish my rant, slowly shakes his head, eyeing me like _I'm_ the one that is going insane.

"No I am not a doppelganger and neither is he," Zeref nods towards the Other Zeref. "That is me from the past. Also, I did not do this; I think Acnologia did. We are in the year X784 since I am still here-" He says, looking back to where Other Zeref is, as if he went back in time every day. He points to Other Zeref, out of view, back behind the bushes. "- and not in the Alvarez Empire. Everyone else is probably wherever their previous selves are. And since you are also here further means it is the year X784 because, like you said, the last time you were on this island was during the S-class trials. And following the same guidelines, the book is probably wherever I had it then."

Now it was Natsu's turn to stare. Before he could ask where the book was, they heard a crash.

"Ow that hurt." They hear Elfman say.

Natsu and Zeref run for cover, a little to the south. Elfman and Evergreen lay on the ground, hugging each other.

"HEY! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" yelled Evergreen, who is pushing Elfman away. "Don't you dare start thinking I'm interested in you just because of what I said to Mira. I was only trying to throw her off her game, not expressing any real desire to hook up with you, bonehead!" Evergreen fumed at Elfman.

Elfman stared at her confused for a second. "Where's this coming from?" He smiled at her "Gotta hand it to you though, that was pretty smooth. It's hard to believe a nice girl like you came up with such a naughty trick."

"You make it sound so dirty." Evergreen scoffed.

' _What are they talking about?'_ I stare at this scene through a cloud of falling autumn leaves, in confusion. I was about to get them, when we hear the bushes crackle. Other Zeref comes out looking surprised.

"People?" Other Zeref said. "I'm confused, why did you come to such a desolate place. I was under the impression that this place was uninhabited."

Elfman and Evergreen took a step closer. "Well you were wrong pall!" Elfman said.

"You are trespassing. Only members of our guild are allowed here!" Evergreen states.

"I'm trespassing? Forgive me, I didn't know this island was controlled by a guild." Other Zeref says quietly.

"It is, ours!" Elfman roars back.

I turn toward this Zeref and frown. _'What was he doing on this island back then anyway?'_ I think as I watch his facial expressions. He's not showing much, just staring. Zeref then turns and walks back to where we were just standing, still out of sight.

"No! Stay back!" Screams Other Zeref, regaining my attention. "If you value your life don't come any closer to me." He said this with his right hand stretched out in a stop gesture, as if his willpower could stop them from coming closer.

"That kinda sounds like a challenge." Elfman says.

"No, it's not, I don't want to fight you. I'll leave the Island peacefully," He puts down his hand, "Please just don't come near me."

"What's wrong with him?" says Evergreen.

"I don't know but he shouldn't be here." Elfman takes a step back toward the giant rock behind Evergreen and him.

Other Zeref's expression turns fearful and he clenches his teeth. Shaking, he grabs his head.

Already knowing the next part, since I came to the rescue back then, I wondered if I should keep watching to see if we were really in a different time, or follow my brother back to the clearing. Hearing the next sentence, I choose to stay.

"No. Here it comes." He gasps "Predatory death. I can't stop it!" The leaves begin to decay as they fall off the trees, shriveling and popping to tiny pieces as they come down. A black swirling mist surrounds him. The black mist expands out, killing everything in its wake. I watch as it heads straight toward Evergreen and Elfman.

"GET DOWN!" my past counterpart yells pushing Elfman and Evergreen down, just in time as the mist passes overhead. The black mist disappears, leaving the three Other fairies safe but leaving a lot of dead foliage behind. The forest they are in is no more.

Zeref starts to cry and whispers "You…Natsu?"

Now that I know we are related this scene makes a _whole_ lot more sense. I wonder _'Has Zeref always been a crybaby, or is he crying just because he's seen me again after so many years?'_ Kinda wish I remembered our past right now so I can know whether this is something I can tease him about sometime.

"Who are you? You better answer me or else!" Other Natsu growls.

 _'Yup, this proves it we're in the past.'_ I finally realize.

Rewritten: 5/23/17


	3. Chapter 2- Search Party

Fallowing the Past-Ch.2 Search Party

I decide to go check on Zeref, since I already know what's going to happen next. I decide to play it safe, since I don't know what trouble Zeref could get into here or who else went back in time. I find him leaning against a tree several feet from where I just questioned him, looking at the ground. He doesn't move when I walk up but I know he knows I'm here. That pisses me off. _'Who does he think he is? After all he's done to us he's just going to sit back and relax?'_

"Getting mad at me won't get everyone from our time in one place. Stop Acnologia or bring us back to our time." Zeref whispers, he starts to caress the grass but it turns brown and dies beneath his hand. He's remembering his time here, which is bad because he liked being away from people. He doesn't have to hurt them if he is away from them. The only thing he is hurting are the plants and animals if he stays. But he has a country to run, plus this Island is going to be destroyed by Acnologia any time now, so staying is not an option.

I stare daggers into his bored, emotionless eyes. Seeing the grass die didn't even affect him anymore. That actually makes me a bit sad. But that feeling disappears once I remember all he has done to my friends and family. He freakin' brought me back to life as a fucking demon! What kind of brother does that? Well, seems like someone knows a little about what's going on here, let's see how much.

"So, what do you know about what's going on? You said Acnologia is behind this but if that's so, where is he? Where is everyone else? How did we get back here anyway? It wasn't the Eclipse Gate since that's destroyed, and you haven't gotten all the pieces for the neo-eclipse yet, maybe it was the book?" I pondered.

"What book?" Zeref looked up at me then, intrigued. He sits up and I plop down next to him ready to explain our adventure that day.

"I don't know. It's some book that sends you back in time, to a place you don't want to remember." I scratched the back of my head. "Our guild was doing a little spring cleaning when Luce, Erza, Gray and I found this book. It sent us back to just after you, Anna-sensei and our dragons sent us through the eclipse gate, to a few months after I joined Fairy Tail I got this scar on my neck," I pull down my scarf to show him. "I found out a little while ago that it was I who gave myself this scar, accidently. Growing up, I thought it was a monster that did it, but no, it was me. After going back in time, through that book, I found out this happened after I got angry at myself for losing a fight against Gray." I explained.

"I've heard of that book. It's called Memory Days. But no, that's not what brought us to the past. That book just recreates a specific day, and after a while you return back to your present time. I think Acnologia is trying for something bigger, something with a longer impact." He sighed, "I saw a lacrima in your guild treasury that could be the cause of this."

"What lacrima?" It's starting to sound like we're parroting each other.

"Lacrima of Time. It takes everyone in what is essentially the size of the Guild Hall through time, up to ten years in the past. I thought they were all destroyed until I found one in your guild Treasury. I was originally going to do something along the lines of what I think he is planning to do with the lacrima, so I tried to find one but couldn't. So, I searched for a better solution and found one in the form of Neo-Eclipse.

"I had no use of anything in the treasury, so I left it. I am now certain that Acnologia found the lacrima and used it to transport us back in time. I don't think he intended to bring anyone else though. His plan was probably to make off with the lacrima and go back in time to kill off everyone on this island." Zeref said. "But that didn't go his way so now we are stuck here. He is probably on his way to finish us off for good. But that's just my guess."

Zeref scrunched his face thinking. "Or maybe he wanted to get to the original Eclipse to go back farther in time."

I didn't want to think about that, that was a scary thought. What could he be planning if he wants to go even farther back in time? To where? I shake my head, trying to dislodge these thoughts, but knowing all too well, that those thoughts could be the key to the answers I don't want to find.

"Okay so let's say I believe all this, what can we do now?" I ask.

"Well, the Eclipse Gate is still usable in this time, so we can go back to our normal time through there. But first we should get off this island before the Other Acnologia comes and destroys it, or the one we know shows up." Zeref cocks his head to the side. "How did you all get out alive, if I might ask?"

"Mavis used her powers somehow and we woke up seven years later. I forgot the details, they were too technical for me, but apparently, we were under the sea that entire time until Mavis sensed other Fairy Tail members nearby and brought the Island back up." I explained. I thought for a second.

"We need to find the others on this island and get off, while we still have time. Then we need to see if anyone from our time is here, then find and stop the Acnologia of our time." I stated my plan to drag him through whether he liked it or not. That way if this is a trap, I won't be going in it alone. He'll be a victim of his own trap.

"Fine, let's go." He stated.

 _Why wasn't he putting up a fight?_ I crossed my arms behind my head and started walking. It didn't take long before we found Elfman and Evergreen from our time. I guess we landed close to wherever our past versions were.

"Hey, guess it's us from '92. Seen the others?" I inquire.

"No, we ended up a few yards that way and saw our past selves and past-Zeref talking." Evergreen said pointing towards the bushes, the past us were still talking, more like yelling.

"That surprised us, so we got to talking. We think it's the year X784 but we don't know how we got here." Elfman says, looking skeptically at Zeref.

"Zeref you explain while we walk around, since we don't have time to sit and chat." I say, pushing through more brush to continue our hike.

"Fine" he says before launching into his theory about our situation.

"So, what you are saying is that Acnologia is behind all this and since he didn't get to kill anyone from this time period on Tenrou, he came back here for a redo? Why? And why should we believe anything you say?" Ever asks.

"I don't care what you believe, I am only stating my opinion. And for your other question, it's because everyone on this Island is powerful in our time, he wants to kill us when we are weaker. So, he used the lacrima to go back to X784, before we've gone through hardships and trainings, to kill us at a time when we are weaker than we are now." He explained.

"I guess that makes sense but that really isn't manly." Elfman notes.

Rewritten: 5/24/17


	4. Chapter 3- Boat Ride

Fallowing the Past- Chapter 3 Boat Ride

We go down to the shoreline. We find everyone from our time that was a part of the Tenrou Team, except for Master. This concerns us so we spread out looking. I go to the house that First Master called home so long ago. I look around the little shack. Moss was still on everything. I put my hand on the door that had equations sketched into it. It was only one room, so I could see everything in it, but there was no Gramps.

I walk out about to leave the little town but notice in the corner of my eye a hand by the side of the shack. I walk to the side and see an arm, then a body. Gramps is lying there on the ground. I can hear everyone's heartbeat, yet I couldn't hear his. I run the little bit to his side and turn him on his back. He was cold. I try to revive him but he has been gone for too long.

I start to cry and hold him. "No…No…No…NO!" I repeat, as I rock him back and forth. How could this happen? How is he dead? I cry even harder as I think that. When I settle down, I look around for someone to help him. I see Zeref in the trees that I came through coming here. He's just standing there, staring at Gramps. Was he not going to help?

I get up, carrying Gramps and head toward him, jogging him out of his trance. I race past him, going back to the shoreline, our meet up place. Once we arrive, I set Gramps on the sand and set off an arch of fire to the sky. A signal to everyone that I found him and to head back. I slump down next to Gramps. In a few minutes, I hear footsteps running toward us.

The footsteps halt and I hear gasps. I finally get enough courage to look up at them. Lucy, Gray, Evergreen and the Strauss siblings stare at Gramps. They race over and do the same thing I did when I first found him. We all stay silent and cry as everyone else comes back, little by little. The last group; Erza, Gildarts, and the Thunder God Tribe are the hardest to watch.

Laxus looks at his Grandfather. He was as pale as Gramps. His face a mix of emotions. Surprise, confusion, surprise again, anger, then sadness. On and on, his emotions cloud his face. He falls to the ground and clung to him like I had only a half hour ago.

We all grieve for the next few hours. All in different ways. Some are huddled together. Some start fights with the others, some went away to be alone for a while. Laxus remains, holding Gramps, no longer crying though.

Gray comes to me and asks if I remember exactly when Acnologia arrived last time. I remember it was almost sundown. I look at the sun and realize it is already in the west, but we still have about an hour left. I use my signal to call everyone back again.

"How, how did this happen?" Lucy wraps her arms around me.

"Fairy Law." Zeref states. He had been sitting behind us for some time. He has our full attention now. "I don't know for sure because I was fighting you and Gray but I am pretty sure that was Fairy Law he used during our fight."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Luce questions.

"Not for the wielder. Fairy Law is a magic which shaves away at one's very life in direct proportion to the amount of enemies on which it is cast. His body couldn't endure such a great force. I heard Mavis trying to discourage him from using it. But that stubborn old fool refused. He said something about not seeing his brats suffer. That he will use his last years to save you all. I didn't care, one less body to fight."

I can't believe what he says and neither can anyone else. I look over to Mavis who looks depressed, as we all are, but also ashamed. Like it was her fault he was dead. Like she could've stopped him from making that decision. We all knew she couldn't, even her being who she is, Gramps was trying to protect his nakama. No earthly being could change his mind about that. By the time Zaref finishes saying that, everyone was back.

"So, is that what that first blast of light was?" Cana asks.

Zeref nods. I look over at Team Natsu, then at everyone else.

After a few more moments of silence, Gray starts to explain that we need to make a plan and get off the Island within the next hour.

This ends up being a big argument. We all agree that we need to get off the Island but didn't know what to do when we arrived on shore again. We figure we should head to Hargeon first since that's the closest town.

"Enough," Erza says "The first thing we have to do is get off this island. We will take one of the boats and go to town. Once there, we will buy capes to disguise ourselves. Then we will bury Master in Fairy Tail's Cemetery. I will send out groups to find as much of our people as we can before sundown tomorrow. Let's stay behind the guild in the forest for the next few days, just in case someone else shows up so we can gather information."

She then turns to Zeref who is sitting Indian style on the sand. "You said you think Acnologia was going to use the Eclipse Gate to go back in time to eliminate those who will become the strongest, which is when they have no magic?"

"Yes." Is all that Zeref says.

"Then who's the strongest?" Asks Levy

Everyone looks at the S-Class wizards. Then around the group. We are the strongest. That's why we were on this island in the first place.

"Who else that's not in Fairy Tail is the strongest?" asks Lisanna

"Sting and Rouge for sure" Lucy states.

"Yeah, them and every other mage in Fiore." Gajeel rolls his eyes.

"The strongest guilds would be Sabertooth, Lamia Scale, Mermaid Heel, Blue Pegasus, Crime Sorciere and us, that goes for strongest people also." Laxus states. We all turn to him. He, like everyone else, has puffy eyes. He looks so disgruntled that it's kind of scary. He still has Gramps in his arms but he is standing, ready to go.

We nod in agreement then I look at Zeref, who has told us a lot so far, but all his information were guesses. Besides, we don't even know if we can trust him. I look at Erza hoping for an answer but she remains quiet, thinking.

"Alright, let's say we can trust him. What would be the point of chasing him throughout time? What would that do?" Mest inquires.

"Saving the lives of all our nakama that he plans on killing." Cana comments.

"I meant why can't we just go straight to the places instead of always being one step behind him."

"Because we don't know exactly where in time he is going. Or even if he's not going through time but just sitting around watching us freak out before he kills us." Freed snaps.

Juvia clears her throat. "Um, Juvia thinks we should be heading off the island now. I don't want Gray-Sama to die too." Juvia clings to Gray's arm.

"Okay, you're right Juvia, let's stick with my plan and make changes on the way if we need to." Erza says as she ushers everyone towards the boat.

FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFT

On board, I walk to the back of the boat, where Zeref stands, looking out over the water. We stole the boat that we used to go to Tenrou back then, to make our escape. I feel a little badly about it, but besides, it wasn't like they would actually USE this boat again. Wendy had to place Troia on me, Gajeel and herself so we didn't have motion sickness. I stop when I am next to Zeref but he doesn't even turn around. I don't know why I walked over here. Everyone else was talking, grieving and making plans but I couldn't get what he told me the other day out of my brain, so I guess I want to confront him about it.

"So." I say, not knowing how to start a conversation with someone who claims to be family but tries to kill the family I already have. It doesn't help that I don't know what I want to talk about. He doesn't stop staring but he tilts his head slightly toward me. That pisses me off.

"Look, I don't believe the crap you spewed back there to me. We are not brothers and I am not a demon! I don't know what you're trying to pull with this but I'll find out eventually. Whether it's throwing me off my game or to evoke sympathy, I won't let you get to us. If you're doing this so I will let you in more so that you can destroy us from the inside out, I still won't let you get to us. I don't know. I could be overreacting, but from what you've done to us so far, I'm not overreacting at all. I'm being cautious, but if you do something I don't like, I will stop you, I swear it." By now I was an inch from his face and have my fist wrapped in his shirt.

I don't know where all this is coming from. I know he is telling the truth. I don't know how I know but I do. And I know that he knows I didn't mean anything I just said. I mean I will protect my family from everyone, including my own blood. But protesting what he said was easier to deal with right now, rather than thinking of the consequences of all of it, including Gramps death.

He just stares at me, then he smiles and starts laughing. His laughter grew to the point where it was more hysterics than laughter. That throws me and makes me take a step back. Everyone on the other side was looking over here now, not sure whether to come and stop it or watch it play out.

"You think I'd lie to you? My flesh and blood?! You are my brother. I watched you die! I held your tiny dead body in my arms! And I could do nothing! You, who were only three and practically brand new to this world! I watched you get ripped out of it so fast we didn't even get to say goodbye!" he spat this in a hysteric whisper that almost sounded deadly. He continues laughing with a hand around his waist and the other clutching his head. A couple tears slipped out of one eye, he didn't even bother wiping them off.

"You'll see I'm telling the truth. We must go through the Eclipse Gate in order to stop Acnologia. You'll see then, because the gate goes through the timeline of the last people who entered. And that dear brother, was yours." He continues his hysterics as I stand in disbelief and horror. I did not want to see if what he says is true or not. I didn't want to know my past before I came to be with Igneel. Then I thought…

"I'm not the only one who went through the gate, all the other Dragon Slayers are here! They all went through." It was a pathetic thing to cling to, the hope that the other's time lines will show itself but not mine.

Zeref stops for a second and smiles, "That is exactly what Acnologia wants, all the Dragon Slayers following behind him so they don't get in the way of him killing them at their weakest points, as little kids without any powers at all."

"Yeah but…" I don't know what to say. I want to tell him we're Fairy Tail, we can defeat him easily! Just a little ass whooping and bam we won. But that isn't going to be possible with us following stupidly behind, not knowing where he's going to go next or if the intentions we think he has are true. Lady Luck has always been on our side, but what if we need more than that this time? She sure didn't help Master, or anyone else that's died in this war so far.

Plus, we couldn't even defeat the Dragons when they came out of the gate the first time, Hell Igneel couldn't even kill Acnologia when they fought. For the first time since I was alone after Igneel died, I feel truly defeated. There is nothing we can do; we didn't even get to fight once, never mind a second round. This fight is hopeless. The only thing we can do is stop him from killing our nakama. Acnologia will still be out there plotting something else to kill us.

Lucy comes up and puts a hand on my shoulder. "Everything alright here?" I turn and look at her. Her blond head is cocked sideways in question, her face a mask of worry. Then I look past her, at my nakama who are getting antsy wondering whether to attack or not.

I smile. "Yeah, let's get this rolling faster so we can get Gramps home already."

"Good, because we're here." Lucy says pointing her thumb over her shoulder to the dock a mile out.

Rewritten: 6/17/17


	5. Chapter 4- Hide Out

Fallowing the Past- Ch. 4 Hide Out

We went to the market and got black capes with intricate purple designs down the length of them. I tried to get a bright red cape but Lucy took it away and said we were trying to blend in, not stick out. I guess she's right but she didn't have to tear it out of my hands and throw it at the vender, especially if she wants to stay anonymous.

After getting our capes, we head to the forest behind the guild. On our way there, we run into most of Blue Pegasus and Mermaid Heel guilds. Kagura and Milianna join us while we are shopping. The rest of Fairy Tail, the ones that weren't on Tenrou, are already behind the guild Hall, along with Sabertooth. They are all shocked to see Masters dead body at Laxus' feet.

We can't do a proper burial since this isn't our time and the guild from this time will notice a newly dug grave in their cemetery. We decide to bury him in the forest behind the guild. It isn't the farewell address we want to give him, or the proper grave that he deserves, but we dig the best grave we could given our situation and we put him to rest.

Now, Gildarts, Happy and I are eating fish to hold us over 'till we sneak into the guildhall after they are closed and cook up some more dinner. I don't eat much though, I can't stop thinking of Gramps laying in the ground. What irritates me though is what Zeref said on the boat and in the war. His words are still nudging towards the front of my mind, begging to be thought about. I did not want to give it such luxury.

I watch as more and more trickle until we get all our allies that we are going to get, given the distance from other towns, gathered in the Hall. We send the ones who don't have capes to get some. Zeref, who we seated in the corner so we could keep an eye on him, stares at nothing but is obviously remembering something bad because he turns pale and starts clawing at his face. I want to go over and make him stop but am interrupted when all the guild leaders stand up to speak.

"Hello, can I have all of your attention?!" Erza, who is now our ninth guild master, yells at all the mages from in front of the bar, where the leaders are discussing our situation. "I know you are all confused about what happened. Well, I will tell it to you straight. I must emphasize that this is all guesses we are working on at this point but it is highly likely that we are correct. We believe that Acnologia has stolen this Lacrima-" Erza states holding up a lacrima from this time, which is a good thing because we don't want him getting two of these lacrimas, "-which, if used, causes anyone in the surrounding area to go back in time, up to ten years. You can choose where exactly in those ten years you want to go.

"Acnologia chose this time because the Eclipse Gate is still intact at this time and because this is the only lacrima left. He will use the Eclipse Gate to go back and try to kill the strongest wizards. We have sent out Crime Sorciѐre to scout out where Acnologia is and what he is up to. They came back and reported that what we guessed is true. Acnologia is already in the castle and holding the King hostage to get the Princess to open the Eclipse Gate. He hasn't already because he needs all the keys. The Princess only has the two keys Yukino had, but the rest are with, of course, Lucy, this time and ours. But he is already getting impatient, it's only a matter of time before someone dies."

Master Ooba spins Toby around and says "Either Acnologia is going to search for Lucy to take her keys, or he is going to kill the King for the Princess's failure, then force her to open the gate with her own powers. Sadly, the second possibility would be his best bet, it gets what he wants in the fastest way possible, which doesn't leave us much time. We have a plan. We can't wait for morning. We are going to have to head out as soon as possible, with or without everyone we know."

Master Bob sighed. "I agree but what about everyone who is left behind? How are they going to get home? And what about the Spriggins? They are all in Alvarez. We might need their help if we are to defeat Acnologia, since they are the most powerful wizards in Alvarez and if they are not on our side, they could try to stop us and defeat him on their own."

Erza nodded, "Or try to get Lumen Histoire. And if we can get them on our side, can we trust them?"

Right then some of the spriggins, Tartarus and Avatar guilds come through the door. We stare for a few seconds. I'm not sure whether the guilds are from this time or not or if they're here to help or try to take Zeref back.

"You can decide what you want about us, but wherever our Lord goes we shall too." Brandish states. Behind her; Larcade, August, Irene, Invel, Dimaria, Jackal, Mard Geer, Seliah, Torafuzar, Briar, Mary and Jerome formed a horseshoe around the guildhall.

"Are you here to help us, kill us or rescue Zeref?" Juvia questions, looking them over with beady eyes.

"As much as we want to kill you, we're here to help." Jackal states.

"Are y'all guys from this time or ours?" Laxus asks.

"We are from both times." Mard Geer says. "I, for example, am from this time. Even though we came for our own reasons, the one thing we can agree on is the need to defeat Acnologia, unless Zeref says otherwise, you are safe from harm from us." We nod at that. It makes sense but we're still weary of them.

The Avatar and Tartarus guilds look around the Hall. All eyes fall on Zeref, who has somewhat recovered from the crazed state he was in, dumbfounded that they are finally in his presence. Brandish starts to speak, saying why she brought everyone from different guilds here but she gets interrupted by Mard Geer.

"Sir, I have looked after the book like you requested, I have kept it safe for so many years so you may open it again one day." He took out the book and held it out to Zeref. "Here, for you, take it and take what you desire the most." Zeref shakes his head. "No. Keep it safe for a little longer. I will take it back soon." They look at each other for a second like a silent agreement was being made.

Jerome, who was hearing all this searched for Gray and spots him leaning up against a post a couple feet away next to Juvia, he was staring at this new book. "You still looking for the book? Or was that a lie too?" Jerome hisses, still apparently mad at Grays betrayal, but really, is he surprised?

Gray shrugs, "No, didn't lie. I still want it, almost got it too. Twice in fact, but now Zeref is keeping it hidden." He shrugs again, like he doesn't really care, with fire in his eyes still staring at the book. Mard Geer sees this and puts it away.

Brandish sighs and continues. "As I was saying, we are everyone who is loyal to Zeref, be that is to save or destroy, who is closest to Magnolia at this time. Everyone else is too far to come. We are here to help out."

Lucy smiles "Fine by me, anyone have an objection?"

There are quite a few scowls but no complaints. After all, these are some of the strongest mages in Alvarez, and it would help to have some demons on our side also.

"Alright!" I exclaim. "More back-up, that always rocks!"

Erza looks around. "Alright, for all of you that just arrived we will fill you in on the way to Mercurius. But if anyone, no matter who it is, steps out of line I will personally use my swords on them. They will then be left behind. Any questions?" There was frightened silence, so Erza starts walking out of the Guild, Jellal close behind her, followed by the other leaders. We all look at each other for a second then follow them out.

Rewritten: 6/26/2017


	6. Chapter 5- Taking Over the Castle

Fallowing the Past Ch. 5 Taking Over the Castle

"Hey Ash-for-brains! Where you even listening?" Gray asks with crossed arms, looking dejectedly toward me.

"Of course I was Ice Princess!" I shout back.

We stand at the gates of the palace. Lucy is looking at the stars, I am looking at the red moon of the eclipse. I think about the significance of that moon and of what we are about to head towards. We take Erza's plan and perfect it along the way. I don't pay much attention to it but basically; we just go in since the guards are captured with King Toma and Princess Hisui and then stop Acnologia before he goes through the gate. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. But if it goes wrong then we just have to follow him to another time and repeat.

I repeat this to Gray to show I was listening. I turn my head away from the moon to give him an 'I-told-you-so' grin. He rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

Luce sighs, "You only listen to what you want to hear, don't you?"

I nod, knowing my weaknesses, I am not afraid to admit to them. "Yeah, I do, but that is the plan, right? I did listen to it, I just didn't hear every detail."

"Yes, that's the generic form of the plan. The very generic form. You really need to listen more. It could get you into serious trouble one day if you don't." Luce lectures.

"Yeah, yeah. I will listen more. And I DO listen, but just to you." I give her my famous grin, which makes her blush and look away.

"Well, do it to others and not just me from now on." She huffs, still flustered.

I lean forward to see her blush better. I laugh when she turns away. "Okay, I will."

"Good." She turns completely now and runs to Levy, who was standing very close to Gajeel. I wonder if they have started dating yet? I snicker, smelling the air. They most likely are, I can smell the metal freak all over her. I turn to Gray and Juvia. She smells like him also. I frown a bit. The only ones not dating from our group are Erza, Luce and I. And the only reason why Erza is on this list is because Jallal doesn't have the guts to go out with her. Even Wendy has been talking more and more to Mest rather than Romeo these days! I wonder what's going on there?

I shake my head. We're at war. I don't need to be thinking of relationships and feeling sorry for myself since I don't have a mate. I realize I have been subconsciously staring at Luce for the past few minutes. She looks over and smiles. Just then Erza starts reiterating the plan. I sneak up to Luce and push her shoulder with mine.

"You ready?" I ask.

She smiles and nods. "Yes, hopefully we can stop him here."

I nod, "I really hope so too."

FTFTFTFTFT

We walk into the foyer and I listen to see where everyone is being held. It sounds like they are in the room where the Eclipse Gate is. That makes it a lot easier to protect; the gate, the King and the Princess, because they're all in the same room.

I lead them through the twisting halls of the giant castle and down an ancient spiral staircase to the giant archway of the Eclipse Gate room. I take a look around the corner. King Toma and Princess Hisui were in the middle of the room. Acnologia held Princess Hisui in the air by the collar of her dress. The guards whined through the rags in their mouths. They are tied up sitting in the right corner of the room looking dejected and worried. I look back at everyone ready for action. I look at Erza for confirmation. She nods, ready to go.

Before we can take a step, Acnologia roars a massively evil laugh. We look around the corner. He was looking at Princess Hisui. "That is what I was hoping for." He gives her an evil smile. "In fact, they are already here. Why don't you come out so I can properly kill you and get you pests off my back?

"And for you two golden key holders, how about handing over your keys? I might leave everyone alive if you hand them over in the next ten seconds. If you don't they're dead. I don't care how this works out. As long as I get what I want in the end, I am fine with whatever happens." He drops Princess Hisui on the ground.

"One, two, three…" He starts counting as he paces the room.

I turn around. Everyone is looking at Lucy and Yukino, even Zeref is analyzing them, which is odd; he never seems to be interested in anything other than me or Mavis. Even then it's iffy, depending on his state of mind. I know one thing. He is not hurting my Nakama, and he is definitely not touching my Lucy.

I walk out. Acnologia looks at me, still counting, then around the corner at the rest coming from the stairwell. Lucy and Yukino came next to me at the forefront. He stops counting when he sees them. "Well?" he asks.

"We are never going to give them to you." Lucy says, grabbing her whip off its belt hook and flicking it. It wraps around his ankle. Acnologia snorts and cuts the rope with his fingernail like it was not a magical whip but a mere web.

Hibiki ran up and grabs Lucy and Yukino's keys in the excitement. Hibiki stammers, "H-here, t-take it, just d-don't hurt my N-nakama". Some of Mermaid Heel and Blue Pegasus nods at what Hibiki said and gets down on the ground, surrendering.

I look around, yelling about how we need to stick together and not give up. But really, I am shocked at everyone's performance, especially Luce's, she has gotten better with her acting. I didn't show this though. I just keep looking pissed at Hibiki for betraying us and still more pissed at Acnnologia like he just won this fight.

Everything is actually going as planned. We know that he would threaten us in some way to get the keys. So, we had decided to make it look like he had won, that we were cornered and had scared deserters in our ranks. Now for the next part of the plan.

We pretend to fight one another. King Toma, not knowing he was helping us, started yelling and hopping around at us and telling us to get our act together and save them. Acnologia, thinking of this as a great time to swipe the Keys from Hibiki and probably kill everyone before going into the gate was, of course, wrong. He was quickly falling into our trap.

But he stops. His hand was midway from grabbing the keys. He steps back and starts laughing. "You really are stupid." He states before killing three close guards and then he grabbed Mary and starts to twist her neck. Her scream was loud and then silent when she couldn't get air. I decide to rush him and succeed in knocking him off balance. He didn't let Mary go, but he loosened his grip which straightened her neck enough for her to use her power of Virus and inflict pain onto him. He drops her but the pain wore off after a few seconds. He is too strong to have some girl with black magic stop him.

He runs forward, straight for Yukino and Lucy. I'm not fast enough to reach him but the people around him rush at him and the magic they use against him has, what seemed, like no effect. He just eats it. Everyone's magic that's thrown at him.

He grabs the keys from Lucy, that she had in her belt pouch. He knows that the keys Hibiki took was the result of Mavis' illusion magic. We all stay dead still and quiet. Not a sound to be heard. Acnologia hands the keys to Princess Hisui. "Open it." he commands. The Princess looks at the keys then at everyone else and back to Acnologia. She takes the keys and in goes front of the gate.

"Unlock" she states. The long hand, like a clock hand starts to move past the locks, stopping at each one to unlock them. We watch for a second but having past experience with opening it, we know he only has one shot and it takes time to open it. We attack, going all out.

We fall into teams; Jackal and Laxus try to electrocute and blow him up, Princess Hisui, Yukino and Lucy attacked with their spirits. Erza, Gray and I also team up as does the rest of our troop. Zeref, August, Larcade, Mard Geer and Invel stand in the corner watching, though it seems they don't get involved much. The guards and King Toma are still tied up so all they can do is watch the fight.

The fight isn't going good. Nothing fazes Acnologia and when we try to attack he just avoids it or eats it. I even try my dragon wing attack. It doesn't work. He is basically keeping us preoccupied while he waits for the door to open. Finally, with a loud click, it does.

"Yes!" Acnologia hisses. He saunters towards the gate, stepping through with a whisk of his cape. Well that could have gone better. That was the first fight though, looks like there's going to be plenty of others. We decided who was going to go through the gate on the way here just in case this played out badly. Lamia Scale, Mermaid Heel, Blue Pegasus, Tartaros, Avatar, half of Fairy Tail and those who belong in this time are staying to find a way home. The other half of Fairy Tail and Sabertooth, plus Zeref, Larcade, August, Irene, Invel, and Dimaria head into the glowing vertex of time through the Eclipse Gate. I really hope it'll be easy to find him, for the sake of all our lives.

Rewritten: 7/7/2017


	7. Chapter 6- Oracion Seis 20

Fallowing the Past Ch. 6 Oracion Seis 2.0

We are going through a tunnel of rainbow light (A/N kind of like the tunnel at the beginning of Doctor Who but colorful not just blue). We are all floating along but at lightning speed, except it feels more like we are walking down the street. The lights tell us another story though. Everything is flashy. We see images flash by of different points in time. They zip past us at a speed that would give you whiplash if you tried to look at them for too long. But since we dragon slayers were the last in the gate, we are seeing our lives from the GMG's (my guess is it starts there because that was when we broke it).

I see images of when Gajeel and I went up against Rogue and Sting at the GMG's and I pushed Gajeel into the canal thing. I see when we went up against Michelle AKA Imitatia and I was fighting Dan Straight. He turned me small for a few minutes. I see me fighting Hades and Laxus gave me his lightening, which I ate creating a new power. Tenrou flashed by showing the Island and time period we just left.

Not only fights went across the colors. Every adventure my team went on within the last thirteen years went by. And other stuff like Every time I broke into Luce's house for food or to sleep over. When I walked beside her as she walked on the edge of the canal, knowing she won't fall but still being careful, ready to catch her. Every fight Gray and I had, ending with Erza stepping in and knocking us out for a bit, Wendy worrying to the side. Every time I started a fight in the guild causing the whole place to join in, destroying the guild to Masters chagrin. The thought of Master made sad.

I wonder if the others are seeing the same thing? A few more fights I see flying around me. The last being when we went up against Oracion Seis. We stopped suddenly in a bright sapphire blue light.

I felt sick. I couldn't open my eyes or even move. My head felt like it was going to explode. I put my hands on the dewy grass and sat up groaning. That was a bad idea, I turned sideways and puked. I tried to look around but everything I saw was fuzzy. After a minute, I could see again and saw that everyone was the same way, some puking and some laying as still as stone. I then looked at where we were. We were in a forest with vines hanging from the trees. I could hear a river about a mile away. On the right, I saw a tree root that was big and arched enough that you could walk right under it. This place seemed familiar but I couldn't place it.

"What year do you guys think we're in now?" Lily asked also looking around.

"Yeah, and what the hell was that back there?" Gajeel huffs. "I saw everything I did from our fight with you guys-" He points to the old Oracion Seis team, "to the GMG's."

I nodded. "I did too. Not your past but mine from the last thirteen years. Did anyone else?" The other dragon slayers nod or replied affirmatively. I look at the non-dragon slayers. Everyone is looking confused, Lucy states, "There was only colors swirling around me then a bright blue light, that's it." Everyone else agrees.

"That's where we are, the place we fought the Oracion Seis." Happy said flying lopsided to my side, still kind of looking sick.

"Oh yah! I remember where we are now!" I cried.

"We were around the bend there, maybe our past selves are there now." Midnight states.

"Where do you think Acnologia landed? If he landed in this time, do you think he landed close by? Is the gate even like the Lacrima? With the Lacrima we landed by our past selves and in the same time period. Who to say he even landed in this time period? And this might be where we fought but who's to say it is the same day and time as the day we're thinking of?" Levy asked looking around trying to find something to determine answers to all these questions running around in her head.

"Good questions, don't know though. Nothin' 'round here, that I can tell, will lead to answers except heading into town." Gray states, leaning slightly back with hands on the ground and sitting cross-legged.

"Yeah, yeah! That's a great idea!" Milianna shouts jumping up and down. "If we really are in X784, then we could go to the movies and see the Lacrima film The Cat Returns, I've always wanted to see that with all my friends!"

"Sorry Mili, I don't think we have time to go see a movie, we need to find Acnologia to stop him from hurting our Nakama" Erza apologized. "We can try to get the movie theaters to play it again when we get home."

Milianna, who was sadly looking down, looked excitedly at Erza again. "You mean it Erzy?! You really mean it?"

"Yes Mili, we can all go to the movie theaters after this war." Erza nodded. Milianna ran to Erza and threw her arms around her, shrieking and repeating thank you over and over again.

Jallal watched, chuckling. Memories of their childhood flooded his mind. He wouldn't want to redo their childhood, and he was sure they didn't either, but he was gratful that it happened. If it didn't then he wouldn't have such an amazing family. Mili and Erza didn't change and he hoped Sho and Wally was the same; and safe and happy like they are.

"Alright already, let's get going. Are we all feeling better at least? Come on, let's just go find out those answers to those questions before Acnologia gets too far ahead of us." Laxus huffed pulling on Mirajane's wrist toward town. I started to follow but realized no one else was following.

"Oi, what's wrong? why is no one else coming?" I asked. Laxus stopped walking hearing that but still held Mira's wrist.

"We should stay and figure out what our next plan is." Lucy says. "We don't know when in X784 we are, and we don't know where our past selves are, and that could be dangerous if we run into them."

"But we can't figure out what to do if we don't go somewhere! We can figure out when and where we are, by finding a town, which is that way." Laxus backfires pointing in the direction he was heading before; not realizing his hand was in Mira's hand, whose face was beet red. Hehe serves her right for always shipping all of us, eye for an eye as they say.

"Enough," Erza says. "We will stay for a bit and see what happens. I believe Acnologia is nearby but I do not know for sure. So, we will wait a while and then go into town for the night to rest. If Acnologia wants to leave we will hear about it and if we don't hear anything then he is not in this time period."

"Fine." Laxus growls walking to a nearby tree, pulling Mira with him.

I looked at Lucy and she meets my eyes. I shrug and we head out to help make camp.

FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFT

"Natsu slow down already! We're in town you don't need to run like a maniac." Lucy calls to me.

I'm not paying attention. I am running up to every one of my favorite food places that I haven't seen since they were destroyed. "Oi! Luce, I'm starved let's go eat at one of these places!" I jumped from one foot to the other pointing at the line of food stores behind me. "Yeah! I want fish!" Happy called out, copying what I'm doing.

"Fine, maybe we can find some answers in there by talking to people." Luce sighs and entwines our arms before walking into one with a classy dancing meat on top.

We sat down at a corner booth overlooking the place. Luce ordered a salad, I ordered everything on the menu and Happy ordered a ton of fish. This made Luce throw her head on the table groaning. I laughed and put my head close to hers. "Gheesh Luce, you look dead." I commented. "No, but my wallet is." She shot back.

We talked till we got our food. Before the waitress left we asked her about what day it is and if there was anything strange going on in Fiore the past few weeks. The waitress shook her head and left.

"Hey Natsu," I whipped my head up from the food I was shoveling into my mouth. "Yeah," I tried to say through the food.

She stared at me with her head sideways and a thoughtful expression on her face that made my heart squeeze.

"Do you ever think of the future? Like, where you find yourself in a few years? Who is around you in your life, will they be there in a few years too? Will you be there or will a war destroy you? Almost every year now we find ourselves in some battle, in some big war, or something happens, like on Tenrou, which then puts you out of commission for maybe years. I don't want any of this. I am still willing to fight to protect my Nakama but all I want is to have a normal peaceful life, taking on missions and spending my life with you Natsu. That's all I want."

She sighs and leans back in her seat. Her eyes are sad now and I want to change that. My heart leapt in my chest when she said she wanted to spend her life with me. I want to take her in my arms and bring her home back to our time and live a life of peace with her like she said. But we first must stop Acnologia and then find a way to get home. But before all of that we have to wait for something to happen.

I smile turning to Happy and whispering in his ear. He yells "Aye sir" and darts away to go find Carla, but not before shoveling a ton of fish in his mouth and bag. Luce looks at me with a raised eyebrow. "What's going on Natsu? Why did you send Happy away?" I give her my signature grin, "Hey Luce, want to go on a date with me?"

Rewritten: 8/22/17


	8. Chapter 7- Oracion Seis 20 Date Time

Fallowing the Past Ch. 7 Oracion Seis 2.0: Date Time

It took me several minutes to convince Luce that I wasn't joking. She was shocked at first, then laughing she said, "nice one". I frowned at her and asked why I would joke about that? She blushed, which made her look even cuter, and she bit her lip. I smiled and asked, "So?", She nodded. I took her hand and dragged her into town.

I remember she wanted a certain book in this time but she did not have enough money to buy it at that moment and then the shop was destroyed in one of the future attacks on the city. We walked into the store holding hands. Luce was still blushing, refusing to face me. She looked around amazed at seeing her favorite store again. She released me and danced around the store, jumping from shelf to shelf.

"Ah! Natsu, I can't believe I'm in my favorite store again! This is amazing!"

I laughed and watched her run around for a bit. She then catches a glimpse of the book she wanted. She sighed, "After all this time I can actually buy it, and doesn't it figure I left my wallet in the future." She smiles and laughs sadly. "Oh well," She walks over to me and grabs my hand again, smiling, "Thanks for bringing me here, it means a lot. Let's go finish our date."

We spent the rest of the day going to several of our old places that we loved to go to. It brought back a lot of memories, which we talked about while I held her hand. She jumped and started walking on the ledge of the canal. The boat man grinned and hollered and waved causing both of us to blush at the same time. One of them yelled "Since he is being careful of you not falling into the water, you now have to be careful of your heart too!" They laughed at that and continued floating on. She breathed out a small laugh and tried to jump down but I caught her and set her down gently.

Luce looked up at the twilight sky and sighed. I continued to hold her for a minute and then grinned. "I have a surprise for you, close your eyes." Lucy closed her eyes and I leaned forward. I put my lips to hers. She froze in surprise for a second and then leaned in, kissing harder now. I slipped the book into her hands while she wasn't focused. She wrapped her arms around my neck, book still in hand.

We broke apart but stayed just as close. I laugh and breathed in her scent. She smelled of Strawberries. She smiled and hugged me closer. That's when she noticed she was holding something. She unwrapped herself from around my neck. When she saw it was the book, her eyes got wide and she jumped up and down, clutching the book to her chest. "Thank you! Thank you so much! I love it. I love you. Thank you." She started crying tears of joy and hugged me, still clutching the book between our chests. I hugged her back and kissed her again.

We parted and started walking back to the place we landed. Erza decided that was a great place to stay since it would look weird to stay in a hotel, and there's still the possibility of running into our past selves. When we got there Luce went to read under some trees and I went to fight Gray. It was nice to not think about the war for a night. I, like everyone else, don't want to think that we can't go back to our time, or that we could die any second if we don't stop Acnologia.

I look over at Zeref, who was sitting close to Luce, sleeping. What is going through his head? What in our life got us to this point? Why can't I remember anything from our past? Maybe if I can remember I can contribute to the possible periods that Acnologia is trying to get to. If Zeref doesn't know where Acnologia is heading, then me remembering won't help either. Maybe he is lying, and he does know. But why would he do that? He wants Acnologia stopped too. Maybe he forgot in one of his mental breakdowns. Or he truly doesn't know. And where is Acnologia now? What is he doing? Ahh! I'm getting a headache. I don't trust either so that's what I am going with. I don't care about the rest, we just need to keep Zeref at bay and stop Acnologia. I've been looking at Zeref this whole time. I look away now, If I keep staring I would want to go over and ask questions I don't want answers to, I don't think I do anyways.

By now It was late at night. I look around and see most everyone was asleep around us. I went to the tree Luce was asleep beneath. I dropped down in-between her and Zeref. I watch her sleep for a bit then stare up at the sky. I can't sleep. My mind keeps going back to what's happening. I turn my head and look at Zeref. He is like a log on his back. How can he sleep so peacefully after over 400 years of trauma he's seen and caused? I remember him sleeping like this on Tenrou just the other day. Or years ago, I am very confused with my days now that we're going backwards through time.

I start to stand but a voice stops me. "Just go to sleep already. All this shifting and turning around is getting on my nerves. Not to mention your constant sighs." Zeref himself sighs, opening one eye to look at me. "Why can't you sleep?" So, he was awake.

I stop and stare for a second trying to decide whether to tell him all the questions swirling in my head. I know he's my brother but with no memories and the only knowledge of him being evil comes from everything he's done as seen through other people's eyes and ears, doesn't leave much room for trust. Apparently, we have a brotherly connection I never knew about or I just don't have a good poker face because he sits up and looks pointedly at me.

"Talk." He states. "You apparently want to ask questions about all this. It's alright, everyone is asleep if that's what you're worried about."

I open my mouth to refuse but instead other words come out. "I am so confused! Why would you help us out with Acnologia? Who is Acnologia to you because you obviously know him, He kept looking at you like you would help him out back there at the gate. I was too focused at the time to realize it but I can recall those looks when I think back to it. You've apparently met him before, and not to try to defeat him but to chat I bet! That's the only reason I can come up with from those looks. And what about us, huh? Where do I fit in? Where did I turn from your brother to your killer? Huh?"

I shake my head; no, my head isn't the only thing shaking, my whole body is shaking. I am pissed and I can't stop. This is why I didn't want to talk. I didn't even get to my real questions yet but I already feel like I'm going to explode. I can't let myself. We are in the middle of a war. There is no room for family drama in a war. I was already up on my feet from the tension I am feeling.

"You already know those answers, what do you really want to ask?"

"I don't know those answers, you made sure of it by playing god. I don't remember my past. I've tried elixirs and hypnotizing, I've tried everything, but I can't remember the past. The last four hundred years gone out of my head."

"Do you think that's because your brain couldn't handle that much information instead of blaming it on me?"

I gave him a hard look. _Does he think I'm stupid?_

"I don't think your dumb, your quite smart, you just have a different way of thinking. I can't give you these answers you have to find them yourself."

"Why? And how do you know I'm not dumb?"

Zeref shrugs, "Because I know you."

Frustrated with that answer and everything going on I turn and head into the forest. I go deeper into the trees to cool off. I walk faster and faster till I'm running. I really needed to clear my head or else I won't get any sleep, but at this rate I ain't gettin' any. At first, I heard Zeref following me but as I went from walk to run, he stopped.

FTFTFTFTFTFT

As I thought; I didn't get any sleep. I spent the rest of the night training. Eventually Gray and Lucy came to get me. We decided when we arrived that it would be safer to continue sending a few of us to town at a time. Bixlow and Lisanna went out to gather information today, along with Mira and Laxus. I think it's just a double date but we'll see. I don't know but something about being so close to home and seeing the town like it used to be, just makes all of us want to go and relive some memories or make new ones like me and luce did yesterday.

Everyone else decided to split up and train. Team Natsu began to set out but we were stopped by the spriggins. "May we join you?" Invel asks. After a moment of staring from both sides Luce smiles, "Sure!" We head back into the woods.

FTFTFTFT

After a bit of walking I lead them to a meadow I found last night maybe a mile away from camp. We decided to team up. We started to stay in our groups, Fairies vs. Spriggins, but Larcade suggested one of each of us. No one liked this but we're going to be fighting together for who knows how long, meaning we have to work together. So, with some grumbling on Gray's part; Gray ended up with Invel, Erza with Irene, Lucy with Dimaria, Wendy with Larcade leaving me with Zeref seeing that August decided to train on his own. This was going to be fun.

We started with stretches and a bit of running to kickstart our hearts a bit for the rest of our exercises. I threw in 60 deadbugs, 50 crunches, 70 planks with kicks and 80 pushups in between my laps, just some light exercise for me. It is kind of funny seeing the Spriggins exercise though. I mean, who would of thought that they exercised? They seem more of the behind the scenes people, giving instructions more than taking them. So why would they bother to train? But then again, I suppose they would have to if they are the strongest mages in Alverez.

Once we finished we spaced out and faced each other. "Ready?!" Erza yells. "Begin!"

Colors exploded all around. Blues, reds, yellows, purples, everyone's powers going off at the same time. I didn't care though, I had my sights set on Zeref. Unlike the others who started right when Erza declared a start, we stood frozen, studying each other. I know, right? Not like my character at all. But this is Zeref here, I can already see some of my group slowing down, so I have to rethink my usual process to win this brawl.

I don't know what Zeref is doing or thinking. Probably about the same thing. I watch his body language carefully. He is just looking around the field, like he has no worries in the world. Well, I guess if you can't get close to anyone it does lessen the amount of worries you have. But then again, He is the ruler of his Empire and has deadly erratic magic that kills anyone he feels something for. Yeah, maybe he does have some problems, but if he's worried about them it sure doesn't show.

He whirls his head at me, eyes determined and pounces. I am taken off-guard by this and stumble back. He takes this opportunity to swing his arm up, punching me in the jaw. He doesn't stop there though. As I am still falling and he is pulling back from his previous swing, he uses his other arm to hit me in my left side and as I land on my ass, he pounds me in the stomach.

He aims for my face again but I catch it this time. I grin, my turn. I light my fist on fire, but with no surprise on my side, I just go at it. I do the same moves he pulled on me, except for my fire and the fact I was faking some punches of course. We go at it this way for a while, each getting and receiving some pretty bad blows. Then I decide to use my feet. I always use my fists when fighting. With this I can surprise him more. I pretend to punch his jaw again but instead start to wind my leg around Zeref's to pull him down.

He jumps back, in the process grabbing my foot. He holds me in the air like I was some prized fish he just caught. He smiles and leans close, "You always did this as a kid. I thought you grew out of it when I watched you fight over the years. I guess when you know you're going to lose you resort to throwing a hissy-fit."

He drops me and stands back. I get up with a growl and face him. He grins making a come-at-me motion. Bastard. I run at him with full force.


End file.
